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Mayweather explains why he selected Maidana for rematch

By Chris Williams: If some boxing fans wondered by WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KOs) selected the tough Argentinian Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) to fight in a rematch on September 13th at the MGM Grand in Las Vega, Nevada, Mayweather breaks it down himself to him giving the fans the fight that they wanted to do.

Obviously, it’s not the No.1 fight that fans wanted to see in Mayweather choosing to fight Manny Pacquiao, but it is a fight that many boxing fans are very interested in seeing a second time due to the competitive nature of their previous fight in May of this year.

Mayweather said, “Marcos Maidana is a tough customer and he gave me a fight that had me work for the victory. His style is difficult at best, but with experience comes a way and will to win. I’m not one to give second chances in the ring, but I want to give the fans what they want to see.”

Mayweather is right about this being a fight that fans want to see. There’s nobody else other there besides Pacquiao, who boxing fans want to see Mayweather fight other than Maidana at 147. Pacquiao had a chance to fight Mayweather, but he made his choice by re-upping with Bob Arum of Top Rank until the end of 2016. And when that contract runs out, Pacquiao will likely re-up with Arum again for another year or two.

At 147, there’s no one else for Mayweather to fight but Maidana. The other top welterweights – Amir Khan, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, Devon Alexander and Keith Thurman – don’t have the name value and don’t bring bank like Maidana does. That’s why this is the best fight for Mayweather.

“I will be as prepared as I always am when I step in the ring on September 13,” Mayweather said. “I only see the outcome one way and that’s another successful night for me and my team.”
Maidana-Mayweather II should bring in at least 1 million buys, possibly more depending on how well their 5-city press tour goes, and who Golden Boy Promotions has for the undercard. They should have some talented fighters to include with the card, and hopefully more entertaining than the last Mayweather-Maidana fight card.

That one could have gone a little bit better with some minor tweaking of the matches with Khan fighting Adrien Broner and Luis Collazo facing Carlos Molina. That’s a far better card. I think they could have saved a little money by having Collazo and Molina not fight on the card, and instead adding some interesting options to go along with the Broner-Khan fight. But what’s done is done. Now, Mayweather and Golden Boy need to make sure that they have some interesting fights on the card so that it’s not just Mayweather-Maidana II holding up the entire card.